Young outfielders receive lengthy tryouts

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Robbie Grossman runs the bases after picking up one of the two hits Monday that allowed the young center fielder to push his average above .200. (Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)

DETROIT — Thirty-nine games into a 162-game season, the rebuilding Astros have started extended evaluations at all three of their outfield positions.

Left fielder J.D. Martinez, 25, center fielder Robbie Grossman, 23, and right fielder Jimmy Paredes, 24, will be allowed to prove their MLB worth while a struggling club that has lost 11 of 13 continues to try to take slow steps toward becoming competitive at the major league level.

The Astros’ constant roster moves aren’t expected to stop until the 2013 campaign is complete.

Outfielders Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez played 36 combined games before being designated for assignment last week. Veteran center fielder Justin Maxwell is expected to reclaim his starting spot after coming off the disabled list with a fractured left hand.

Since Grossman, Paredes and Crowe were added to the club, the Astros have rotated outfielders in a variety of situation-based formats.

But the team has been falling backward while the front office focuses on the No. 1 overall pick of the 2013 amateur draft and fine-tuning a minor league pipeline that is at least a year away from producing consistent big league talent. As a result, a 10-29 club that’s on pace for its third consecutive season of at least 100 losses has decided mid-May is its first cutoff point of the season.

The Astros were obvious sellers at the July 31 trade deadline before the season began. Now, the club will hold outfield auditions at the same time it faces American League powerhouses such as the Tigers and Rangers.

“(General manager) Jeff (Luhnow) and I communicate all the time,” Astros manager Bo Porter said. “We’re on the same page as being able to figure out what core players can we move forward. The only way you’re going to find that out is to let them play.

“And this is the thing: You can’t let them play for two weeks and go, ‘OK. I have my answer.’ It has to be a good junction of playing time to where you feel like, ‘OK. I’ve given this guy an opportunity and this is the decision which we’ve come to.’ ”

Shaping 2014 roster

Until a week ago, extended opportunities had been limited for a team that was attempting to defy low expectations, which is why everyone from Ankiel and Maxwell to Grossman and Paredes had spent time in the outfield. But after falling 7-2 to the Tigers on Monday and dropping 15 games behind the first-place Rangers just 44 days into a six-month season, Porter is adamant his club must loosen its leash to get a better feel for who’s worth keeping in 2014.

Second baseman Jose Altuve, third baseman Matt Dominguez and catcher Jason Castro are the only players with locked-in everyday spots. With Maxwell due back in two to three weeks and top prospect George Springer an early candidate for an outfield spot next season, the Astros have gone young — the club’s average age of 27 is the lowest in MLB — at the same time they’ve acknowledged realistically competing this year is a lost hope.

“I’ve always said the biggest job as an organization is, you cannot make mistakes on your players,” Porter said. “You may go out to get something that you really don’t need … you just didn’t give it a chance to show you that it was there or you mis-evaluated it because you didn’t have enough information.”

Struggling to hit

The initial feedback on the Astros’ new outfield starters isn’t overly promising. Entering Monday’s game, J.D. Martinez was hitting just .203, Grossman was batting .194 and Paredes was at .182.

Grossman is the lone athlete whose low batting average is sometimes enhanced by extended at-bats (.317 OBP), decent speed, good range in the outfield and an improving glove.

Grossman went 2-for-4 with an RBI against the Tigers on Monday and has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games; Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double. Paredes was 1-for-3 and involved in an outfield collision with Altuve during the second inning.

If the new outfield trio fails, the Astros’ immediate alternatives are highly limited. Grossman and Paredes didn’t make the club out of spring training; J.D. Martinez also began the year at Class AAA Oklahoma City and was a replacement for Fernando Martinez.

The $21 million-payroll club won’t spend extra big league money this season and top outfield prospects such as Springer (13 home runs, 31 RBIs, 1.033 OPS) and Domingo Santana (seven homers, .917 OPS) are at Class AA Corpus Christi.

Now’s the time for Martinez, Grossman and Paredes. Until they give back their new jobs. Or the real reinforcements arrive.

“I’m just excited to get to put on the uniform and play every day,” Grossman said.